Hayton, who plays for the Ontario Hockey League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, did not have any points in the victory.

Hayton, Canada's first-line centre, had three goals and three assists over the course of the week-long tournament, finishing tied for second on Team Canada in points and tied for seventh overall in points at the tournament.

Joe Veleno scored the winner early in the second period, while Jared McIsaac and Kevin Bahl had the other Canadian goals.

Noah Dobson and Akil Thomas each added two assists.

Dominik Arnost had the only goal for the co-host Czechs, who were the defending Ivan Hlinka champions.

Olivier Rodrigue had a relatively quiet night in the Canadian goal, stopping 12 of 13 shots he faced.

Lukas Dostal made 32 saves for the Czechs.

Canada has now won 21 Ivan Hlinka gold medals since the elite summer U18 tournament was founded in 1991, including nine of the last 10 titles.

The tournament is not sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation, which has its own U18 championship. But the IIHF’s championship conflicts with the CHL major junior playoffs, so the Ivan Hlinka traditionally represents Canada’s chance to field its best U18 team in international play.

NOTE: Peterborough Petes import pick defenceman Gleb Babintsev and Team Russia missed out on the bronze medals after losing to Sweden 4-3 in overtime in Saturday's third-place game. Babintsev tied for first for most penalty minutes at the tournament at 27 after being assessed a game misconduct in a round-robin game with co-host Slovakia.